Tim Burden has a great idea about infrastructure/transit: Charge a commuter tax on employers who hire employees who live far away

Issue: Infrastructure/Transit: How to make it easier to get around Toronto

What’s the big idea: What if we charged a commuter tax on employers who hire employees who live far away? This tax would amount to about double the cost of a Metropass per month on every employee who lives more than a reasonable biking or walking distance away from the workplace. Half the money would go to the employee to buy a Metropass, and the other half would be used to improve public transit infrastructure. The employer could not claim the charge as an expense, and the employee would not have to claim it as a benefit.

How will the big idea work: People sometimes talk about the benefits of free public transit. That treats public transit as a human right, and is said to encourage the behaviour we want (getting people out of their cars and onto public transit) and to reduce auto sprawl. These are laudable goals, but the idea has problems in practice. In one study, public transit vehicles became de facto homeless shelters, driving people back into their cars. In another, transit ridership increased at the expense of walking and biking, rather than of car travel.

An employer-paid commuter tax — on distant commuters only — would encourage the right behaviour (to hire those who live close to work), while not discouraging walking or biking when close to work, leveling the playing field for employees who can’t move closer, and maintaining a sense of value in our transit system. It achieves the behaviour-shaping and social justice goals of the free transit movement, with none of its negative consequences, and provides new transit revenue in the fairest possible way.

How much will your big idea cost, and how would it be funded: By providing new transit revenue without taxes on the middle class, while exacting an avoidable tax on companies, this plan should appeal to politicians of all political stripes. The plan would increase public transit’s modal share, but comes with a built-in revenue source to pay for the increased operating costs.

Employers would be exempt from paying the tax on employees who do not have fixed workplaces (e.g. construction workers), who are required to have their own car (e.g. salespeople), or who work from home.

How will you implement your big idea: By voting for progressive municipal and provincial candidates who have the vision to carry something like this off.

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